


Vector

by setissma



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-08
Updated: 2012-06-08
Packaged: 2017-11-07 08:06:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/428788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setissma/pseuds/setissma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's a great idea," Tony said.</p>
<p>"Fabulous," Pepper said. "I'll file it with all your other recent great ideas, like stealing cars from the Stark Formula One team and buying me a strawberry farm for my birthday."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vector

"No," Pepper said.

"Pepper," Tony said.

"Tony," Pepper said.

"It's a great idea," Tony said.

"Fabulous," Pepper said. "I'll file it with all your other recent great ideas, like stealing cars from the Stark Formula One team and buying me a strawberry farm for my birthday."

"That was charming," Tony protested.

"That was _asinine _," Pepper said.__

"I'll call him tomorrow," Tony said, and that was how Pepper found herself sharing a floor of Stark Tower with a third of the Avengers.

Steve Rogers showed up that afternoon, his duffle slung over his shoulder. "Ma'am," he said, when she opened the front door. "Thank you for your hospitality."

Pepper felt a few of her misgivings disappear. She remembered reading about Captain America as a little girl, what felt like a lifetime ago. He was the first – back when things were simpler, without radioactive spiders and impenetrable iron suits. He'd had a larger than life quality that Pepper could never quite identify, something that, for all his brilliance, she'd never seen in Tony. Maybe it was humility or a willingness to sacrifice, but Pepper didn't think so. As much as he liked to argue about it, Tony was just a genius in a suit, running on adrenaline and a stubborn nature that went around masquerading as bravery. Steve Rogers was something more. It was cellular.

"Come on in," Pepper said, holding open the door.

She watched him take in the apartment, the skyline view and Tony's tablets. To Pepper, the robotics experiments on the coffee table and the ridiculously upgraded coffee maker felt like home, but judging by the look on his face, to him, they seemed alien. Pepper suspected Captain America had gotten his fill of alien lately.

"Your room is right through here," she said, and went first, unplugging Tony's laboriously installed communication screens and pulling the curtains on the window. Steve ran his fingers over the classics on the bookshelf, looking relieved. He set his bag on the foot of the bed.

"Tony's in an interview with Forbes," she said. "He should be done by four."

"At least nobody seems to change magazines much," Steve said, with the first real smile she'd seen out of him.

"I make a mean grilled cheese," Pepper offered, with a smile in return. "Unless that's too novel for you."

"In Stark's kitchen?" Steve said. "It might be."

"I promise to keep any and all robots away from your lunch," Pepper said.

That night, Tony came to bed late, smelling like diesel and cold metal. "No oil on the sheets," Pepper protested, laughing, when he tried to grab her, but she obliged when he came back from the shower, tugging him down for a long kiss.

Tony pulled her shirt off. "He was reading a book when I came up. He seems good."

"He seems _young_ ," Pepper said, mildly. "Be careful with him, please."

"I'm always careful," Tony said, looking offended.

Pepper laughed and wrapped her legs around his waist. "You're never careful."

"You're very mean to me, Potts," Tony said.

"I am, in fact, the worst personal assistant and girlfriend of all time," Pepper agreed.

"CEO and girlfriend," Tony corrected.

"Shut up, Tony," Pepper said. For once, Tony listened.

When Pepper came out the next morning, Tony and Steve were bent over the coffee table.

"Maybe if I –" Tony said, rotating a schematic.

"Is that actually _possible_?" Steve said.

"Sir, if I may suggest –" Jarvis said.

"Shut up, Jarvis," Tony muttered.

"Sir –" Jarvis said.

"Shut _up_ , Jarvis," Tony and Steve said, in unison. They sounded frustrated.

"Morning," Pepper said, filling her coffee mug. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was going to need it.

"I'm making him a plane," Tony said. "With a modified jet engine."

"I'd really prefer not to steer via holoscreen," Steve said, then paused. "Stark, what _is_ a holoscreen?"

"Oh, you know," Tony said, rotating what looked like half of an wing.

"I'm ordering pancakes," Pepper said.

Pepper left for Lisbon that afternoon, a week of boardroom meetings and lonely hotel rooms. Tony called sixty-three times: did she know where his lucky tie was (in the front hall closet, where he'd left it after the last round of Senate hearings), what was the Chinese restaurant they'd eaten at that one time, last Christmas (Liu Kang's), could she remember the password for the shower jets (no), what pair of panties was she wearing (not an answerable question on a five minute lunch break). Steve called once: was her trip going well, and did she mind if he invited Barton over to watch a baseball game?

When Pepper came home, Tony was sprawled out on the couch, watching a movie on a holoscreen, and Steve was asleep on the other end. Their feet were touching.

"Hello, Tony," she said.

"Welcome home, Potts," Tony said, not looking up from the screen, but he moved over, making room for her. When she settled in, he ran his palm up her side, slowly, like he was trying to relearn something.

"Miss me?" Pepper said, lightly.

"Yes," Tony said. It was a more honest answer than she was expecting.

Pepper rested her face against his shoulder before she finally climbed to her feet. "Bed?"

Tony caught her hand, looking up at her for a long moment. It was the sort of analysis he usually applied to machines, not people. "I love you," he said, finally. It was only the second or third time he'd said it sober, and Pepper cupped his face in her hand for a moment, smoothing her thumb over his cheekbone.

"I know," she said. "Come to bed."

Pepper had been good at math in college, calculus and statistics and linear algebra. Math was solid, all concrete rules and predictable outcomes. At least, she'd thought so before she met Tony, who built castles in the air out of integrals and slayed metaphorical dragons with vectors. She was good, but he was extraordinary. She'd thought for a long time that the power dynamic would never work, the secretary from Cincinnati and the billionaire genius, but then Pepper had had a realization. She was better at stability. Tony was brilliant, mercurial, given to inventing clean energy technologies in the shower and winning over thousands of people with a single smile, but he couldn't do laundry or make a box of macaroni and cheese. She remembered finding an old _Time_ article about Tony Stark at MIT, too thin and with a wrinkled collar under his suit jacket. Tony was exceptional at nearly everything, but Pepper was more exceptional at understanding Tony.

So she figured it out before he did. He left his hand against the small of Steve's back for seven seconds too long while he taught him to shoot the modified Glock. When he was working on something at the kitchen table at night, she caught the circuit his eyes made every few minutes, the table, the clock, her, Steve. He left stupid gifts, like an extra set of keys to the Murcielago, an indestructible punching bag, and a red and gold version of Steve's shield. Pepper suspected it might be the superhero version of a letter jacket, Captain America in Iron Man's colors.

For his part, Steve laughed a little too long when Tony said something. Pepper caught him keeping track of every time they touched, like he wasn't sure what to do with it. He was nineteen and unsteady on his feet, which Pepper knew for a fact that Tony found nearly as irresistible as confident women in high heels. She found them charming, then vaguely infuriating, because Tony had never asked her permission for much of anything before. She expected to find them together, but then she didn't. She took a pointed business trip to Quebec, but when she came back, they were repainting the bathroom, both covered in blue paint and laughing about it. 

It took her another week to realize that Tony had no intention of doing anything about it.

"When were you going to tell me you'd decided to try out monogamy?" Pepper said, exasperated, when Tony came into her office, holding what she thought might be a tiny, glowing pint of fruit.

"It seemed like a reasonable proposition," Tony said, sounding simultaneously guilty and relieved at having been caught out.

"We talked about this," Pepper said, because she'd never expected to tie Tony Stark down.

"Yes, well," Tony said, crossing to stand behind her desk. He fiddled with the switch on her desk lamp that hadn't been working, not making eye contact, and it suddenly came to light. "I brought you strawberries. They're genetically modified."

" _Tony_ ," Pepper said.

" _What_?" Tony replied. "That means you can eat them. You will no longer have to miss out on mankind's most glorious fruit. I thought you'd be happy."

"I am happy," Pepper said, kicking off her shoes and wrapping a leg around his calf to draw him in. "But it's unnecessary."

"On the contrary," Tony said. "Strawberries are very necessary."

"Not _that_ , Tony," Pepper said.

Tony paused, staring resolutely at her lamp. "Are you happy with your office? I could add in more lux for next winter."

"It's fine," Pepper said. She knew better than to press him.

He ran a hand through his hair. "I might have reached the scientific conclusion that other people have become unappealing," he said. "It was an unanticipated outcome." He finally looked at her.

"How long?" Pepper said, mildly.

"Since we got together," Tony admitted, looking – sheepish. 

"Well," Pepper said. "You can reimburse me for my unnecessary monthly STD tests."

"Want a strawberry?" Tony said, holding them out.

Pepper took one. It tasted exactly like she remembered from her childhood. Then she felt a vague itching in the back of her throat.

"I suspect we're going to need my epi-pen," she managed.

"Oops," Tony said.

Four hours later, Pepper was better, although the antihistamine haze hadn't faded. Tony was working on something on his tablet one-handed, his other arm wrapped around her, keeping her against his side. She suspected it was the strawberry formula. Pepper decided not to volunteer that she wasn't really inclined to continue her career as a test subject.

"All other people?" she said, finally.

"What?" Tony said, then paused. "Oh. Yes." He rubbed just underneath his watch, a tell that had always made him ridiculously bad at poker.

"There's a loophole to your whole monogamy pact, you know," Pepper said, mildly. "We could just both ask him to bed."

"Huh," Tony said.

"I have decent ideas, occasionally," Pepper said.

Pepper thought about extending an invitation herself, but Tony had a boyish charm about sex that she thought might make things easier. And unlike Tony, she was good at leaving things alone.

"I'm working on it," Tony said, one night after Steve had gone to bed, and Pepper concluded the long hours he was putting in around the lab probably weren't on development for the new missile defense system.

Finally, Tony came in while she was reading in bed, and Steve stepped through the doorway behind him, looking – amused.

"I tried to get him drunk," Tony said. "I gave him a _lot_ of scotch."

"It's not my fault you skimmed my file," Steve said.

"I bet I could invent something," Tony said.

" _No_ ," said Steve and Pepper.

Pepper cleared her throat. "So your plan was… dubious consent?"

"No," Tony protested. "I was going to ask first. Then get him drunk. In case threeways were weird in 1942."

"I thought he was supposed to be some sort of genius," Steve said, dryly. "And you didn't ask anything."

"I did too," Tony said.

"I'm reasonably certain that asking if I could use my super strength to help repair your bed because you and Pepper had broken it was not asking if I wanted to –" Steve faltered, and Pepper realized that he was better at bluffing than Tony.

"God, shut up," Tony interrupted, darkly. "It was an excellent plan."

"Someday, I'm going to ask how you figured out what he was offering," Pepper said. "Is that a yes?"

"I'm here," Steve said. "But I –" He paused.

"I read your file," Pepper said. She stood up, peeling off her stockings and starting to unbutton her blouse. Steve's eyes followed her fingers, and when he looked back up at her face, he suddenly went red.

Pepper stepped around the corner of the bed, moving close enough to plant her feet between his. She abandoned the buttons and slid her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his hair. "I don't know exactly what to say to make this easier," she murmured, low enough that it was just for him. "But he likes you, and I –" She laughed. "Schoolgirl crush?"

Steve's hands found her waist. "I thought that this would go a little differently," he admitted. He dropped his forehead against hers, with a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Threeways were weird in 1942."

"I'm not Peggy," Pepper said, softly. "But we can give you a lot if you let us in."

"Don't listen to her," Tony said, coming up behind her. "The real selling points of this thing are Pepper's –" He paused, cupping his hands in a completely inappropriate gesture. "Charming wits."

Pepper elbowed him. "Play nice," she said, but Steve was laughing.

"You were hogging my superhero and engaging in girl talk," Tony said. "Who's Peggy?"

"He didn't read the file," Steve said, mildly.

"He focused on the weapons technology," Pepper corrected.

"I was trying to save the world, Potts," Tony said, and then fisted a hand in Steve's shirt, pulling him around Pepper's shoulder for a long, rough kiss.

Pepper watched Steve tense, feeling his hands tighten against her hips. Then Tony spread a hand out against the small of his back, rubbing with a thumb in a gesture she recognized from press conferences, and Steve made a soft noise and finally relaxed. When he pulled back, he was breathing hard.

"Is that – okay?" he said, looking startled, and Pepper laughed.

"It's kind of the point," she said. "Come to bed."

Tony peeled her shirt off with practiced ease, unzipping her skirt, but Pepper turned around for a kiss when he reached for her bra clasp, fending him off. "Give him a minute," she murmured, and Tony rolled his eyes but left it alone.

"Thanks," Steve said, softly, while Tony was losing his jeans and throwing his shirt somewhere in the direction of their closet.

Pepper laughed. "I'm getting naked eventually," she warned him, walking backwards toward the bed. She took it as a good sign when he followed her down.

"I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing here," Steve muttered.

"You'll learn, padawan," Tony said, flopping down on the bed next to them. Pepper was singularly unsurprised to find that he was naked.

"What?" Steve said.

"Oh my god, you've never seen Star Wars," Tony said.

"What's a Star War?" Steve said, sounding a little dubious. "Do I need to know that? For this?"

" _What's a Star War_ -" Tony said, then paused when he realized Pepper was starting to laugh uncontrollably.

"Fine," he said. "Later."

"Thank you," Pepper said. She pulled Steve down closer, wrapping her legs around his waist, and laughed again at the noise he made.

"That's just cruel," Tony observed.

"You talk a lot," Steve said, finally settling on his elbows over her. Pepper cupped his face, drawing him down for a kiss. He felt different than kissing Tony, less sure of himself, but he was warmer, somehow.

"We have fun," Pepper murmured, when he finally drew back. Tony made a noise of his own and slid his hands between them to peel Steve's shirt off, undoing his belt buckle.

"Less clothes," Tony suggested, tugging Steve's pants down until he kicked them off, and then slid a hand down into Steve's briefs. Pepper couldn't tell exactly what he was doing, but she was smart enough to make an educated guess from the sudden look on Steve's face.

"Hey, Pepper, you and the Captain are totally making it happen," Tony teased. He sounded too smug for his own good.

"Were you _saving_ that?" Pepper said, mildly.

"No," Tony said. "I would never do such a thing."

Pepper realized a minute later that Steve was – breathing hard against her shoulder, the kind of deep, in and out she recognized from every time Tony had ever done anything dangerous in front of her. He was trying to calm himself down.

"I should –" he said, starting to roll off, and Pepper went with him.

"You should stay," she said, softly.

"I think," Steve started.

"I know," Pepper said, and pulled him down for another kiss. She'd been with Tony for so long that she'd forgotten what it felt like to be with anyone else, and it had been significantly longer since she'd been as far out of her depth as Steve was.

"Hey," Tony said. Pepper reached to cover his mouth with her hand, stroking her other hand down Steve's side. Tony finally pulled her hand away, leaning to kiss her temple.

"Okay," he said, then slid a hand to the back of Steve's neck, squeezing hard for a minute.

"Relax," he murmured, the low tone of voice he used whenever Pepper was angry or scared. Steve stopped trying to move, sinking down into the mattress.

"I feel like I don't understand _anything_ ," he said, finally.

"I'm pretty sure this was going on in 1942, buddy," Tony said, with that stupidly charming smile, and Steve finally laughed.

"Not with me, anyway," he said.

"And?" Tony said. "You saved the world. Twice. Women like that."

Pepper laughed softly. "I'm collecting superheroes," she agreed, readjusting to straddle him and leaning down for a long kiss. Tony reached behind to unhook her bra, sitting up to nuzzle her shoulder.

"Well, she's collecting _two_ superheroes," Tony said. "No messing around with Spiderman. He kind of sucks." Tony grinned. "But if you ever feel the urge to start working on Romanoff, I'd –"

"Just ignore him," Pepper said, with a smile. Steve laughed again.

"Can I –" he said, and Pepper leaned down to meet him half way as he slid his hands up to cup her breasts.

Pepper slid a little closer, lowering herself onto his lap. She grinned against his mouth when he swore under his breath, starting to get hard against her. Pepper wasn't really surprised when Steve looked at Tony, biting down hard against the corner of his mouth.

"I told you so," Tony said, a little smugly, but he slid in as Steve sat up against the pillows. He fit himself in against his side, getting an arm behind his shoulders, and pulled him down for another kiss. Pepper leaned back to watch as she finished undressing. Steve closed his hand against Tony's wrist. Tony took it further, tangling their fingers together. She could offer sex, right now, but Tony was giving him something more.

"We can go slowly," Pepper said, settling back in his lap. She reached down to press the heel of her hand against his cock, rubbing slowly. Tony kissed him again, warm and slow, keeping their hands together. Steve relaxed a little more, leaning against Tony's side, and shut his eyes, breathing going uneven.

"Uh," Steve said.

"You're fine," Tony said, wrapping his palm around his shoulder.

Pepper finally pulled Steve's briefs down and off, wrapping her hand around him to stroke a few times.

"My god," Steve murmured, and Tony laughed.

"It gets better," he said.

"Are you ready for more?" Pepper murmured.

"I think – yes," Steve said, and Tony passed over a condom.

Pepper rolled it on, watching Steve watch her, and then settled back in his lap, finally sliding down onto him. It was different than with Tony, and Pepper was surprised by how much she noticed it, but Tony was still there, watching her from a foot away with a hungry look on his face. 

"You're, um," Steve managed, wrapping an arm around her waist and gathering her in, still wide-eyed, "you're beautiful."

Pepper was pretty sure he _meant_ it, which was more than a little hot. She nudged her nose against his, tilting his face up for a kiss, and readjusted her hips so she could slide down deeper, starting to move. Tony kissed him again, hard and wet, biting as his lower lip. Steve came a minute later, panting against Tony's mouth, and Pepper laughed softly.

"I think that was dirty pool," she murmured. Tony pulled her out of Steve's lap and down onto him, making a low noise.

"I'm an asshole," he agreed, keeping his arm around Steve.

" _Hey_ ," Steve said, finally, and Pepper laughed, starting to squirm when Tony slid his other hand down between them to rub at her clit.

"I was enjoying that before you stole her," Steve said, dryly.

"Hey, Pepper, you're beautiful," Tony teased, and Steve smacked him in the shoulder.

" _Ow_ ," Tony said.

"You know," Pepper said, mildly, "I own a vibrator. It's less of a pain in the ass."

"I built you that, it's cheating," Tony said.

"I own a _different_ vibrator," Pepper said.

"Ouch," Steve said, laughing. "Outsourcing."

"You know what, I'm sorry I introduced you to Wikipedia," Tony muttered.

" _Tony_ ," Pepper said. She squeezed down on him, hard.

"Fuck," Tony said, and thrust up into her, pulling her closer.

"Yeah," Pepper said. She tilted her head back, closing her eyes, and was a little startled to feel Steve's hands on her shoulders and his mouth against the back of her neck.

"Here, try this," Tony said, and Pepper felt them switch, Tony's hand over Steve's fingers, rubbing against her faster.

Pepper leaned back against Steve, who had moved in behind her, and when he slid his free hand down to cup her breast, dragging a thumb over her nipple, she arched and came _hard_. Tony followed her over a few seconds later, grabbing tight against her hips.

"Quick study," Tony observed, finally, grinning.

"I told you I had good ideas," Pepper said, leaning in for a kiss. Steve looked – smug.

"Can I stay?" he said, finally, after Pepper had untangled herself and flopped back on the bed.

"Obviously," Tony said. "We have work to do. Jarvis, start _Return of the Jedi_."

"The third one?" Pepper said.

"Gold fucking bikini," Tony said, brightly. Pepper just laughed.


End file.
